ARC Review: Out for Blood by Kristen Painter

4.5 Feathers

Out for Blood

by Kristen Painter

(House of Comarré #4)

This has got to be my favorite book in this series!  It was the perfect blend between all the dark, gritty characters and storyline, action, suspense, love, loss and betrayal.  Truly a whirlwind of things that happened and that have been set up for the final episode in this series.

Chrysabelle is dealing with the repercussions of visiting the Aurelian, of having her signum redone using the Ring of Sorrows, which is now a part of her, and having Mal's bad blood flowing through her veins.  It definitely made for a change in her character.  But she's still feisty and fighting for herself this time.  Her mission is now to find her brother.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Mal was so amazing in this book.  His love for Chrysabelle showed through at all times, he's got new powers to flaunt, new possibilities to maybe get rid of his curse, and whole lot of good humor.  He was playful and sexy and....fangy!  Yes, there's a bite involved.  He gave me a small scare for just a bit and then Ms. Painter decided to torture us and there's an unexpected turn of events at the end.

There were a lot of other storylines taking up quality space time which I found were great to move the story along.  I enjoyed the fact that we were not so focused on Tatiana and the different Houses this time around because there are new bad guys in town to watch out for.  And to be found in the most unlikely of places.  No I won't tell you who or what, but they kept the story very interesting.

There are also some new developments with the characters we already love and care about, Fi and Doc have a lot going on.  Creek as well.

Overall, I think the author did a wonderful job with this book to keep things moving along, keep me interested even through the changes of POV and stories, and it all worked well.  But I have to give it to her that she's finally given us more of Chrysabelle and Mal as a couple.  They are so perfect for each other!  And now after that ending, I'm just so anxious to get the next book ASAP!!!

Favorite Quote:

"You really do love me, don't you?"
He answered without opening his eyes. "Enough that it frightens me, too."

*ARC provided by publisher

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Bad Blood by Kristen Painter

Bad Blood

by Kristen Painter

(House of Comarre # 3)



When I first started reading this series I thought it was going to be a trilogy, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out before I started this book that it would continue.  The thing that keeps drawing me to this series is the sophisticated world.  There is still so much that can be done with this characters and so much more than can happen!

This book starts off pretty much as soon as the last one ended.  Chrysabelle is still recovering from her injuries, her life was saved thanks to Mal, and again she's not talking to either him or Creed.  A bit selfish maybe if you ask me.  Chrysabelle was a bit more withdrawn in this book and in some ways things that happened in this book felt more like a setup for the rest of the story.  She's now looking for her brother.  One that she didn't know existed before.  To accomplish this she must get back to see the Aurelian to get a name.  But she can't go back with our her signum.

She makes the decision to melt the famous Ring to use the gold for her signum.  Good or bad decision?  We will soon find out!  But you will never believe where she had stashed the ring for safekeeping!

We get to travel to yet another city in Painter's world.  This time is the ever popular New Orleans.  I actually loved her twist on the city as it now belongs to the fae and vamps are persona non grata in the city.  In order to get her ring back, Chrysabelle, Mal and Mortalis must help the fae in New Orleans solve a few issues.  While back on the home front Creed, Doc and Fi are dealing with well.... a lot going on back home.  Samhain is here and the creatures are out.

Mal and Chrysabelle's relationship was cemented a bit more in this book, which pushes aside the love triangle we started to see in the previous book.  I'm happy about this.  They both love each other, and Mal's feelings run deep.  I'd love for them to be able to explore their feelings in the nest book.

I'm excited to see what's to come out, even though I'm still not sold on this as a favorite series of mine, it's unique, intriguing and interesting!

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter

Flesh and Blood

by Kristen Painter

(House of Comarre # 2)

Did I mention already how much I love the covers for this series? Yes? They are awesome!

Now onto the book. Chrysabelle has stayed away from Malkom since coming back to Paradise City and the events at Corvinestri. This annoyed me a bit. She had made a promise to him to go the Aurelian to try and break his curse but with everything that happened she can't go back to Corvinestri. Does she realize what he did for her? So she just sends him blood with Doc in the meantime.

And then there's Doc. He's devastated over the death of Fiona but turns out she's not really all the way dead again. Wow this girl has gone through so many stages of death I can't begin to describe it. So he's looking for a way to bring her back to life.

While all this is going on Tatiana comes to Paradise City now with her new abilities she can sort of shapeshift into anyone she wants and she uses that ability to her advantage to try and find Chrysabelle and the Ring of Sorrows.

And that Ring has brought yet another player into the mix. Creek is a human vampire slayer for the Kubai Mata. Everyone seems to think this group is a fairytale. I actually really liked Creek as a character but of course, this wouldn't be a good UF series if you don't introduce a good ol' love triangle, right?

Yep! You got it. Creek wants Chrysabelle. Even though his job is to protect Chrysabelle and get the Ring of Sorrows back to the Kubai Mata. And even though now Malkom wants to stake his claim on her, which by the way I thought was really cute! The bickering and arguing between Malkom and Creek was entertaining but what I don't get is how these two very obviously possessive alpha males are ok with Chrysabelle saying that she basically wants both of them. How is that going to work? I'm extremely curious to see this part of the story unfold in the next book.

And then there's Tatiana. Truly a great villain, she's evil, most of the time things go her way and it's kind of disturbing to read her point of view. She has no care to destroy people's lives of those around her or just whoever gets in her way. I can't wait for her to get her own.

And for the grand finale, well not quite the ending, but what Chrysabelle did at the end was wrong even though was the only thing she could do. It was a bit of a betrayal. The actual ending was a bit anticlimactic but I guess that's because the next book released very close to this one so it's almost like continuing the story. 

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

3.5 Feathers

Blood Rights

by Kristen Painter

The House of Comarre is a dark and gritty world. A comarre is basically a human with some special strength, and they are raised and trained to eventually be sold to the highest vampire bidder. They are the food source for vampire nobility. And hence the vampire who pays for them owns their blood rights.

This complex world of vampire politics and world domination plotting kicks off when Algenorn, Chrysabelle's master, is murdered and a precious ring is stolen from his possession.

Chrysabelle was almost at the point in her service where she should've been offered freedom from Algenorn and after finding him dead runs away, thinking she would be the first suspect in the murder.

She now has to prove her innocence while trying to stay alive. And who can she align herself with? Her best bet is an anathema vampire who's been cursed and cast out of nobility. Malkolm is a sexy, tortured hero. He is cursed to drain anyone he drinks from and has not drank directly from a human since the last girl he killed came back to haunt him as a ghost. Fiona is a source of much entertainment, especially when she chooses Chrysabelle's wardrobe. Along with the lowlife vampire and a ghost there's a shape-shifter, her aunt (comarre) and a few other supernatural misfits along the way that will be crucial to clear her name and prevent Tatiana, the evil vampire, from achieving her plans.

I really liked the characters and I loved the complex new world. I was having a bit of a hard time getting adjusted to all the new terms (and I might've glanced back at the glossary a few times) but after 60% I was ok with it. But somewhere around the middle of the book the pace started dragging a bit.

I did enjoy the slow building of the relationship between Chrysabelle and Malkolm and I can see them being great together in the next books. And the twist at the end... I did not see that coming!

Intrigue, action and a sort of raw sensuality as well. It all comes together and promises to be a great series! I can't wait to read more. 

Purchase Links: Amazon